Expanding NATO membership while increasing Russia's involvement
with the alliance is central to promoting American, European, and
Russian security. Expansion, if done correctly, will facilitate the
required flexibility the United States needs to protect its
interests in a dangerous and unpredictable world. A larger pool of
NATO countries will increase the opportunities for successful
operations by coalitions of the willing.

The Senate is currently considering H.R. 3167, the NATO
expansion bill. The bill, passed by the House, should it become
law, would provide a strong congressional endorsement for NATO
expansion further into Eastern Europe. Aside from the political
implications, it also provides significant financial help to
potential member states. Specifically, it allows Slovakia to
receive aid under the NATO Participation Act of 1994 (PL 103-447)
and authorizes funds to help military financing for Estonia ($6.5
million); Latvia ($7 million); Lithuania ($7.5 million); Slovakia
($8.5 million); Slovenia ($4.5 million); Bulgaria ($10 million);
and Romania ($11.5 million).

Expanding membership and bringing Russia closer, however, will
require a thoughtful and deliberate policy prescription. H.R. 3167
promotes that objective. As NATO considers another round of
enlargement this fall, the NATO expansion bill will strengthen new
members' bids to enter the alliance by demonstrating America's
commitment to their cause. However, the funds associated with the
bill should not be construed as American endorsement for any or all
of the potential new member states to enter the alliance at any
certain time. Nor should the amounts of funds allocated be
construed as supporting one nation over another.

The United States, NATO, and potential new members must consider
a number of things beyond the bill as new membership is
deliberated. While the current standards for new NATO members
ensure that new members share alliance values, maintain secure
borders, and attempt to develop interoperable forces, an additional
standard must be established. New NATO members should be considered
only if they recognize that NATO's role extends beyond Article V:
that many of today's threats to transatlantic security come from
outside of Europe and new members must be willing and able to
develop capabilities to contribute to coalition operations
out-of-area as well as within Europe.

NATO's response to the terrorist attacks against the United
States on September 11 demonstrated that the alliance has too many
members willing to sign bold declarations, such as invoking Article
V, but then either unwilling or unable to undertake substantive
military action. If the alliance is to make a meaningful
contribution to transatlantic security in the 21st century, it must
be able to fight collectively, not just sign pieces of paper. The
alliance's approach to expansion should be to help the accession
countries become fitting candidates before they join. The NATO
expansion bill can help do that.

However, more needs to be done by the alliance. Current
provisions can be better tailored to aid candidates in developing
their force abilities through emphasizing a sector-by-sector
approach to interoperability. As many of the current states in the
queue (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia) are relatively small,
with limited budgets, and unlikely to field a state-of-the-art
military in the near future, these candidates should instead be
judged on their ability to develop resources that would be useful
to future coalitions of the willing and the out-of-area missions
they may undertake.

For example, ensuring that field hospitals, military police,
infantry divisions, and similar units have the appropriate
training, equipment, and deployment capabilities will be extremely
important. This would be an appropriate use for the funds that H.R.
3167 provides. Doing less in terms of numbers of troops deployed,
but doing it at a higher technological level, will ensure alliance
interoperability into the future. As long as entering members begin
to possess the mission operations ability and willingness to
countenance out-of-area missions, a large NATO expansion supports
the underlying American principles of enhancing strategic
flexibility while limiting the ability of NATO to encumber the
U.S.

The legislation currently under consideration by the Senate
coincides with America's, NATO's, and potential member states'
mutual interests. However, moving forward with expansion will
require further deliberation.